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One of the main sweetspots in the British / European miles & points space comes from the American Airlines AAdvantage partnership with Etihad. For 62,500 miles, you can fly one-way in First Class between Europe and the Middle East / India / Maldives.

Yes… you can experience the “Apartment” on an Airbus A380 for relatively few miles…

If that doesn’t entice you, perhaps the knowledge that you will only pay £25 in taxes and surcharges to fly from Abu Dhabi to London in First Class will help…

You might have a 2-for-1 voucher, but you already know that BA will CRUSH you with massive surcharges to fly in their inferior (to Etihad) First Class and Business Class cabins…

Now Bookable Online!

Until recently, you needed to check for award space on the Etihad Guest website and the call American Airlines AAdvantage to book. Usually the AA agent could find the space, but not always…

But now you can book Etihad rewards online.

I have conflicting emotions about this change. On the one hand, I already knew how to book Etihad rewards – and putting it online just means that booking up award space is easier for everybody else. But on the other hand, I doubt that AA would have invested in the capability if they were going to drop Etihad as a partner – so I’m more confident collecting AA miles with an Etihad reward in mind…

How Do I Get More AA Miles?

I’m not aware of any UK credit card options. The MBNA card is dead, and American Express MR points don’t transfer to AA. So you might want to consider Marriott. 60,000 Marriott points will convert to 25,000 AA miles. (with occasional transfer bonuses on top). You can also earn AA miles for booking Marriott stays via the AA shopping portal. Click here to read how…

Conclusion

In one sense, we are spoiled by British Airways Executive Club – most partner airline rewards can be booked online. I do wonder though whether this ease of booking is partly responsible for the devaluations we continue to see on the partner side. I hope the same doesn’t happen with AAdvantage, since this sweetspot is one of my favourites – long may it last!!